I’ve written before about various methods of ensuring freedom from interruption in the office; but pre-dating these there was the familiar “Do not Disturb” sign you hang on a hotel room door knob. These used to come in different colors, but they kept pretty much to the same form dictated by their function. A cardboard rectangle with hole… what was there to improve?

Well, on my recent trip to Berlin I saw what someone felt is the next great leap in interruption-busters. The NH Hotel we stayed in had a switch inside the room that would light an electric sign outside it. No more messing with cardboard.

This looks like an improvement… except for one minor detail: it would be all too easy to forget the sign ON when you leave the room, thereby preventing the staff from making your room up in your absence. The old system did not share this drawback – when you shut the door the dangling sign would be sure to catch you eye.

Seems to me that this idea could be made to work better if opening the door would switch the sign off automatically… But then, I am not a Hotel Systems consultant, am I?